As the fight against the government’s proposed Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) disability benefits cuts rages on, something is emerging that’s making me very uncomfortable. Whilst the government and media are focusing on the part of the plans that involves making DWP PIP harder to claim and conflating it with being out of work, disabled people are eager to prove them wrong – but I think they’re going the wrong way about it.
Instead of Instagram posts, tweets, and TikTok videos highlighting on the fact that the government want to make it harder for disabled people who can’t work, many disabled people (especially those with influence) are solely focusing on the fact that disabled people DO work.
Some of us DO work actually. Well, good for you…?
While I don’t doubt that these people have got good motivations, by solely focusing in the fact that many disabled people do actually work, we’re playing right into the government and media’s hands by separating the good and worthy disabled from those who are bad, lazy, and not worthy of support.
The government and media have for a long time been working hard to paint disabled people as either those who desperately want to work but just don’t have the motivation or those who are happy to languish on benefits. They want a return to the strivers vs skivers narrative, the inspirational disableds vs the lazy scroungers who should be left to die.
By constantly asserting that many – and especially YOU – work, you’re only playing into their hands. You’re unconsciously saying, “I’m not one of those faker scroungers rinsing the taxpayer, look at me, I work!”
The government know DWP PIP isn’t an unemployment benefit
At the end of the day, as much as the government claim they want to support people into work, their actions speak for themselves. There’s been no commitment to make Access to Work the wait shorter and there’s no onus on employers to make work accessible for disabled people. This isn’t about helping us to actually strive. It’s about forcing us into work or letting us die.
And although the constant social media posts of “many disabled people work, DWP PIP isn’t an out-of-work benefit!” are done with good intentions, they all feed into the narrative that disabled people are only worthy if they contribute to the capitalist society that doesn’t care if we live or die.
Make no mistake, the constant conflation that all disability benefits are unemployment benefits is a bad thing, but it’s also very deliberate.
The ministers in charge of running our country and MPs constant touted out in front of the media circus definitely know that DWP PIP isn’t an out of work benefit, but they also know that the media’s constant coverage of them saying otherwise is what has helped turn the public against disabled people who need and deserve support.
The government couldn’t give a fuck if disabled people work or not
Of course, the government stooges aren’t going to tell the public that many disabled people rely on DWP PIP to help them get to work, or to pay for equipment when they’ve been failed by Access to Work. They don’t care that many of us, like me, rely on PIP to top up our income so that we can afford to only work the hours that best suit our bodies. They don’t fucking care how many disabled people need PIP to survive when they are so unfairly discriminated at work.
The fact is that they don’t actually give a fuck how many disabled people do work. They just want us all off benefits one way or another. The problem is they can’t just tell the public they want to kill us. So instead, they want to appear to be supporting us with the likes of DWP PIP – whilst knowing full well that many can’t work and that they will die. Because dead disabled people mean less people they have to pretend to care about and support.
When the government and media have sown so much hatred of disabled people on benefits into the working class public, we’re not going to change any minds with “BUT SOME OF US DO WORK ACTUALLY!!”
All you’re going to do is play right into their hands and cause a bigger divide between those who can and can’t work, who’s worthy and who isn’t.
They’re coming for all disabled people – not just non- working DWP PIP claimants
They’re coming for us all at the end of the day, but they’re going to start with those already deemed less worthy, because it’s easier. And they know they can do it whilst so much of the fight is being focused on proving that we’re valuable.
Whilst we’re all trying to prove we’re good little disableds worthy of support, they’ll be stripping our siblings who can’t work of their benefits (including DWP PIP), forcing them to dance to prove they can’t work then go “oh but you can do the dance you can work”.
And then they’ll come for us too. DWP PIP is already going to be harder to qualify for and for years there have been rumoured attempts to make it means-tested. Once they’ve cut benefits as much as they can the next media churn will be “Why do these people need benefits when they work? Why are they taking our taxpayers money and get all these perks when non disabled people are working hard too?”
With the current hatred over Motability cars, the next step from government is surely going to be to heavily lean on disabled people being given free cars to make it so that only those under a certain income can claim DWP PIP, meaning millions of us will be forced to work ourselves to death or just starve to death.
So what should we be focusing on?
Whilst we shouldn’t be jumping to immediately defend ourselves, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be pointing out how many disabled people rely on DWP PIP so that they can work, but also so that they can live.
More than anything though, instead of having to defend that you do actually work, those with a platform should be highlighting just how many who can’t work will be affected and that many disabled people will never be able to work – but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be supported.
We should be using the platforms we’ve been afforded to highlight just how cruel this government is and how many disabled people will die if these DWP PIP and other benefit cuts are allowed to happen. Because there’s nothing about us without all of us – and it’s the job of those with a voice to speak for those who can’t.
Featured image via the Canary
